The man accused of slaughtering his aunt and her six children in the Dorayi Chiranci area of Kano has told a State High Court that he carried out the killings on the instructions of a herbalist.

The defendant, 23-year-old Auwalu, is standing trial for the deaths of his aunt, Fatima Abubakar, and her children, whose brutal killing shocked residents and drew nationwide outrage. Testifying in his own defence before Justice Nasiru Saminu at High Court No. 11, he admitted to the crime but claimed he was acting under spiritual influence.

According to his testimony, a man he identified only as Thomas, described as a herbalist and traditional healer, allegedly supplied him with incense and directed him to kill. Auwalu told the court that Thomas had previously used him for similar acts and instructed him to continue, suggesting a pattern of ritual-style violence.

In a dramatic twist, Auwalu moved to clear his co-defendants, Isyaku Yakubu Chobe and Yakubu Dayyabu, insisting they had no role in the killings. He alleged that he mentioned their names only after being tortured while in police custody, claiming investigators forced him to implicate others.

Prosecution lawyers, led by Safiya Yalwati and Zaharaddeen Hamisu Kofar Mata, presented police investigator Corporal Aliyu Jamilu to counter the defence narrative, while the defence team called its own witnesses in an attempt to undermine the original investigation and confessional statements.

The case stems from an incident that plunged Dorayi Chiranci into mourning when Fatima and her six children were found slaughtered in their home. Police later arrested Auwalu, a blood relative of the victims, along with two other suspects.

The trio were initially arraigned before a magistrates’ court on an eight-count charge, including conspiracy, culpable homicide, robbery and rape. After a legal review by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the matter was transferred to the High Court, where they now face nine counts.

While Auwalu has admitted to the killings, though now claiming spiritual manipulation, his co-accused maintain their innocence. The court has adjourned for continuation of trial, as the community and wider public await a verdict in a case that has raised fresh concerns about ritual claims, coerced confessions and the handling of violent crime.